A Sister Can Change Everything
by Duckett-1
Summary: How would the story of Percy Jackson change if Percy had a twin sister? This is that story. Jayme Jackson is Percy's twin sister, and this story surrounds the familiar story of her brother, which is now hers as well. Lightning Thief-Last Olympian
1. Chapter 1

**DISCLAIMER: I own none of these characters except Jayme. She's my OC**

Look, being a half-blood sounds awesome right? Well, it's not. it's dangerous and scary, and most of us die at a very young age. If you think this is fiction, good for you. Just believe it, you'll be safer.

My name is Jayme Jackson.

I'm 12 years old, and I have a twin brother named Percy Jackson. Up until a couple months ago, we went to a boarding school called Yancy Academy. It's a private school for troubled youth in upstate New York.

Are we troubled kids?

Yeah. I guess that sounds about right.

There are lots of places I could start explaining how terrible my life is, but the real mess started last May, when Percy and I went on a field trip to a museum in Manhattan. Twenty-eight mental case kids and two teachers on a school bus to look at Greek and Roman stuff.

Sounds like it sucks, right? Like torture? Yeah, most Yancy field trips were.

But my favorite teacher, Mr. Brunner, was leading the trip, so at least this trip had potential. Mr. Brunner was a middle-aged guy in a motorized wheelchair. He had thinning brown hair with a scruffy beard the same color. He wore a frayed tweed jacket that always smelled like black coffee. When you first meet him, you think you'll hate the class and him, but he's cool. He told stories and jokes and let us play games in class. He also had an awesome Roman armor and weapon collection, so he was the only teacher that didn't put Percy to sleep.

I hoped this trip wouldn't end like they usually do. Which means, Percy and I won't get in trouble.

Wow, I was way off.

Bad things always happen to the Jackson twins (Percy and I) on field trips. Like at our fifth grade school, Percy accidentally fired a Revolutionary War cannon at the Saratoga battlefield. He didn't mean to hit the school bus, but it was in the way. And guess what happened; expelled. And before that, at our fourth grade school, we took a behind-the-scenes tour of the Marine World shark pool, and I leaned against a lever on the catwalk at the same time as Percy hit the wrong lever. Our class kinda took an unplanned swim in the tank. Then before that... Nevermind, you get the idea.

This trip, I was **NOT** getting in trouble.

All the way into the city, I listened to Percy putting up with Nancy Bobofit, the freckle-faced, redheaded kleptomaniac she-devil messing with the best friend Percy and I share, Grover, in the back of the head with chunks of a peanut-butter-and-ketchup sandwich. (Gross!)

Grover was easy to pick on. He was scrawny. He cried when he got frustrated, and he must've been held back a few grades, because he was the only sixth grader with acne and a wispy beard attempting to grow on his chin. If that wasn't enough, Grover was crippled. He had a note excusing him from PE forever because of some muscular disease in his legs. He walked weird, like every step hurt, but don't let that fool you. You should've seen him run on enchilada day.

Sorry, off topic. Nancy Bobofit was throwing sandwich wads at Grover, which stuck in his curly brown hair, and she knew Percy and I couldn't do anything to stop her because we were already on probation. The headmaster had threatened Percy with death by in-school suspension if anything bad, or mildly entertaining happened here, and threatened me with out-of-school suspension, back home which could be way worse.

"I'm going to kill her," Percy mumbled. Grover tried to calm him down. "It's okay. I like peanut butter." I turned to look at Grover from my seat. "Please tell me you don't like it with ketchup." Grover frowned, and gave me a look that read 'not helping.'

He dodged another piece of Nancy's lunch.

"That's it." Percy started to get up, but Grover pulled him back to his seat.

"You're already on probation," Grover reminded Percy. "You know who'll get blamed if anything happens." "He's right," I added. I glared at Nancy, who cowered slightly then threw another chunk of her lunch, but at me instead of Grover. "Okay, I'm through with her." I snarled under my breath and lunged across the seats at her. She squealed, which sounded more like a squeak, but Percy and Grover pushed me back. "Whoa, Jayme," Percy said. "I want to kill her too, but you're in worse shape with the headmaster than I am." "Fine," I growled. I slowly sat back down into the bus seat, keeping my icy glare on her.

I really wish Percy would've decked her right then, I wouldn't have made a difference in what happened to us later.

Mr. Brunner led the museum tour.

He rode up in his wheelchair, guiding us through the wide halls of the galleries, past marble statues and glass cases full of really old black and orange pottery vases, which made me uncomfortable to be around; I break things a lot.

I thought it was crazy that stuff like this survived for two or three thousand years.

Mr. Brunner gathered us around a thirteen-foot-tall stone column with a big sphinx on top, and started to explain that it was a grave marker, a stele, for a girl around our age. He told us about all the carvings on the sides. Percy and I tried to listen to him, because it was kind of interesting, but no one would shut up, and every time we asked kids to do so, Mrs. Dodds, the other chaperone, gave us the evil eye.

Mrs. Dodds was this math teacher from Georgia who always wore a black leather jacket, despite her fifty year old age. She looked mean enough to ride a Harley into your school locker. She came to Yancy about halfway through the year, after our last math teacher had a nervous breakdown.

From day one, she loved Nancy Bobofit (which was her first real issue) and figured Percy and I were the spawn of Satan himself. She would point her scrawny, ugly crooked finger and us and say, "Now honey," and we knew we were going to have after-school detention for a month.

One time, after she made Percy and I erase answers out of old math books until midnight, Percy told Grover he didn't think Mrs. Dodds was human. I agreed, the Grover looked at us, being dead serious, and said, "You're absolutely right." Which freaked me out a little, and I don't scare easy.

Mr. Brunner continued talking about Greek funeral art.

Finally, Nancy Bobofit snickered something about the naked guy on the stele, and I whirled around at the same time as Percy, and we said, "Will you shut up?"

Apparently, it was louder than it was supposed to be.

Everyone laughed. Mr. Brunner stopped his story.

"Mr and Miss Jackson," he said, "did you have a comment?"

Percy's face flushed red. I wanted to pull down my pony tail and let my hair cover the embarrassment that flooded my face. "No, sir." Percy and I said in unison.

Mr. Brunner pointed to one of the pictures on the stele. "Perhaps one of you will tell us what this picture represents?" It sounded more like a statement than a question to me, but, for once, I didn't question a teacher.

Percy and I looked at the carving and I watched the relief flush over his face. He recognized it, and thankfully, so did I. "That's Kronos," I stated, which Percy finished with. "He's eating his kids, right?"

"Yes," Mr. Brunner said. If he was satisfied, he obviously didn't show it. "And he did this because..."

"Well..." Percy's voice faded, and his face showed he was digging through the files of his brain to remember. I did the same. _I know this! _I thought, feeling like a total idiot. "Kronos was the king god, and-" Percy started to say, then was cut off by Mr. Brunner.

"God?" He asked.

"Titan," Percy corrected. "And..." His train of thought had clearly ended. "He didn't trust his children, the gods." I said, picking up where Percy left off. He gave me a look of relief. 'Thanks,' he mouthed. I inclined my head slightly, giving a silent 'you're welcome' as I kept trying to explain. "So, Kronos ate them, right? But his wife, er, Rhea, hid baby Zeus and made Kronos eat a rock instead." Percy picked up where I left off. "And when Zeus grew up, he tricked his dad, Kronos, into barfing up his brothers and sisters-"

"Eeew!" A girl behind us moaned.

"-and so there was this big fight between the gods and the Titans," Percy continued, "and the gods won." I smiled, and Percy held out his hand at his waist for a high-five. I returned it happily.

Some kids snickered from the back of the group.

Behind us, Nancy Bobofit mumbled to a friend, "Like we're gonna use this in real life. Like it's going to say on our job applications, 'Please explain why Kronos ate his kids.'" "I'm going to kill her," I muttered to Percy, crossing my arms across my chest. "And why, Mr and Miss Jackson," Brunner said, "to paraphrase Miss Bobofit's excellent question, does this matter in real life?"

"Busted," Grover muttered, making me snicker.

"Shut up," Nancy hissed, her face even brighter red than her hair. "Aw," I said with mock sympathy, looking at Nancy with a pouty lip. "Did somebody get embarrassed?" She glared at me, and I felt Mrs. Dodds's eyes on my back as well.

I turned back toward Mr. Brunner. I was just happy Nancy, at least, got called out too. Mr. Brunner was the only one who ever caught her saying anything wrong. He had radar ears.

Percy and I thought about it. I glanced at him and saw a puzzled expression on his face that clearly matched mine. Finally, Percy spoke up and shrugged. "I don't know, sir." Mr. Brunner looked at me. I shook my head, my midnight ponytail flopping around. "I'm sorry, I don't know either."

"I see." Mr. Brunner looked disappointed. "Well, half credit, Mr and Miss Jackson. Zeus did indeed feed Kronos a mixture of mustard and wine, which made him disgorge his other five children," I gagged, and I don't have a lace stomach either. I don't gag easy, but the thought of mustard and wine together is nasty. Mr. Brunner continued, not paying me any attention. "Who, of course, being immortal gods, had been living and growing up completely undigested in the Titan's stomach. The gods defeated their father, sliced him to pieces with his own scythe, and scattered his remains around Tartarus, the darkest part of the Underworld. On that happy note, it's time for lunch. Mrs. Dodds, would you lead us back outside?"

The class drifted off, the girls, except me, clutching their stomachs, while the guys pushed each other around and acted like idiots. Grover, Percy, and I were about to follow when Mr. Brunner said, "Mr and Miss Jackson."

_Crap_, I thought. I could tell by the look on Percy's face he knew it was coming.

We told Grover to keep going. Then we turned toward Mr. Brunner. "Yessir?" I asked him, unwillingly meeting his gaze.

Mr. Brunner had this look that wouldn't let you go anywhere - intense, ancient brown eyes that looked a thousand years old and have seen everything.

"You must learn the answer to my question." He stated.

"About the Titans?" Percy asked, raising an eyebrow.

"About real life. And how your studies apply to it."

"Oh."

I stayed quiet, I knew if this applied to Percy it applied to me too, but I had no opinion to interject in this conversation. I fiddled with my rubber bracelet, knowing I listen better with something else to do.

"What you learn from me," Mr. Brunner continued, "is vitally important. I expect both of you to treat it as such. I will only expect the best from you two, Percy and Jayme Jackson."

My temper flared, and I saw Percy's do the same. This guy pushed us too hard, he expected to much.

Yeah, his class was fun sometimes. Tournament days were the best, when he dressed up in some Roman armor and shouted: "What ho!" and challenged us, sword against chalk to run to the board and name every Greek and Roman person that ever lived, and their mom, and the god they worshipped. But Mr. Brunner expected Percy and I to be as good as everyone else, even though he knows we have dyslexia and ADHD and the fact that Percy and I have never made over a C - ever. Wait - he didn't expect as good as others from us, he expected better. And Percy and I can't remember all those names, nevertheless spell them the right way!

Percy mumbled something about trying harder and I felt anger flare in my eyes, while Mr. Brunner took one long sad look at the stele, like he knew the girl and he'd been at the girl's funeral.

He ordered us to go eat lunch.

The class was gathered on the front steps of the museum, sitting where every kid could watch the the foot traffic along Fifth Street.

Overhead, a huge storm cloud brewed. The cloud was blacker that smoke and spread across Manhattan. It's not the first weird weather event that's happened. Stuff like that's happened all over the city since Christmas. There's been massive snow storms, flooding, wildfires from lightning strikes. It wouldn't surprise me if a hurricane hit us. Personally, I blame global warming.

Only Percy and I seemed to notice. Some guys were throwing Lunchables crackers at pigeons nearby. Nancy Bobofit was trying to pick-pocket something from a lady's purse, and, go figure, Mrs. Dodds didn't see a thing.

Grover, Percy and I sat on the edge of the fountain, away from everyone else. We thought that maybe if we did that, everyone wouldn't know we were from THAT school - the loser freaks who couldn't make it anywhere else.

"Detention?" Grover asked, his eyes switching back and forth from Percy, then me, and back to Percy.

I shook my head. "Nah," Percy said before I could. "Not from Brunner. I just wish he'd lay off us sometimes." He looked at me sympathetically, then at Grover. "I mean - we're not geniuses."

Grover didn't say anything for a while. Then, when it looked like he was about to give us a long, deep philosophical speech to cheer us up, he said, "Percy, can I have your apple?"

Percy handed it to him. I stared at the street, swinging my feet back and forth, bouncing the heel of my sneakers against the concrete as I watch people walk by.

I watched cabs go down the flooded streets of Fifth Avenue, and thought about mine and Percy's mom's apartment, which was only a little ways uptown from where Percy and I sat. We hadn't seen her since Christmas. I ached to jump in a cab and go home, or even run there. She'd hug me tightly and be glad to see me, but she'd be disappointed, too. She'd send me right back here, to Yancy, and remind me to try harder, me and Percy both. Even if this was our sixth school in six years and we were probably going to be kicked out again. We'd never be able to stand that sad look she'd give us.

Mr. Brunner parked his wheelchair at the base of the handicapped ramp. He ate celery while reading a paperback novel (multitasking at its easiest). A red umbrella stuck up from the back of his chair, making it look like a motorized cafe table.

I was about to give my sandwich to Grover when Nancy Bobofit showed up in front of us with her ugly friends - looks like she got tired of stealing from tourists - and dumped her half-eaten lunch in Grover's lap.

"Oops." She grinned at Percy with her hideous crooked teeth. Her freckles made her look like someone took and orange permanent markers and drew dots all over her face while she slept. Oh, that's a good idea. I'm gonna play connect the dots with a sharpie on her face.

I felt my temper flare. The counselors at every school we've ever been to has told me "count to ten, get control of your temper." I felt the color in my eyes erupt into flames as anger roared in my ears. I don't think either of us remember touching her, but when I regained control of my anger Nancy was sitting on her butt in the fountain screaming, "Percy and Jayme pushed me!"

Mrs. Dodds materialized out of thin air next to us, which was super creepy.

I overheard some kids whispering: "Did you see -"

"- the water -"

"- like it grabbed her -"

Percy and I were extremely confused. All we knew was we were in trouble. Again.

As soon as Mrs. Dodds was done babying poor little Nancy, promising her a new shirt from the museum gift shop, etc., etc., Mrs. Dodds turned on us. There was an odd glow in her eyes, like a fire of excitement. Almost like she had finally found what she'd been looking for all semester. "Now honey -"

"I know," Percy grumbled. "A month erasing workbooks." I frowned at Percy and muttered, "Shut up!" He's going to make this so much worse for us.

I was right.

"Both of you, come with me," Mrs. Dodds said.

"Wait!" Grover yelped. "It was me. I pushed her."

Percy and I stared at him, stunned. Mrs. Dodds scared him to death, I couldn't believe he was trying to cover for us.

She glared at him so hard, so evil looking, that it made his whiskery chin tremble.

"I don't think so, Mr. Underwood," she snapped.

"But -"

"You - will - stay - here."

Grover looked at us desperately.

"It's okay, man," Percy told him. "Thanks for trying." I gave him a reassuring smile, and squeezed his hand comfortingly, hoping it would make him feel a little more confident.

"Honey," Mrs. Dodds barked at us. "Now."

Nancy Bobofit smirked. Percy gave her an angry, _I'll-kill-you-later _glare, which I copied and made 5 times sharper. Then he and I turned toward Mrs. Dodds, but she wasn't there. She was standing at the museum entrance, at the top of the stairs, gesturing impatiently for us to follow her.

"How did she do that?" I asked Percy. He shrugged. I frowned. "Oh, thanks. You're helpful." I muttered. We both have moments like that a lot. Our brain will fall asleep or something, then it wakes up and we've missed something. It's like a piece of the universe broke away and left us staring at the random blank space behind it. Counselors have always said it was part of our ADHD, our brains missing things or misinterpreting things.

Neither of us believed them.

We walked after Mrs. Dodds.

About halfway up the stairs, Percy glanced back at Grover, who was pale. His eyes switched between Percy, Mr. Brunner and I, like he was begging Mr. Brunner to look up and see what was happening, but Mr. Brunner was sucked into his novel. Percy and I looked back up, seeing Mrs. Dodds had disappeared once again. She was standing inside the building, at the end of the entrance hall. _Okay_, I thought quietly, glancing at Percy. _We're just going to buy Nancy a new t shirt at the gift shop. _I tried to stay positive, but that obviously wasn't the plan.

Percy and I followed her deeper into the museum. When we finally caught up to her, we were standing in the Greek and Roman section.

Except for the 3 of us, the gallery was empty.

Mrs. Dodds stood with her arms crossed over her chest in front of a big marble frieze of the Greek gods. She was making a strange, growling noise deep in her throat.

I was nervous without the noise, with it she was freaking me out. It's weird being alone with a teacher anyway, especially Mrs. Dodds. She stared at the frieze with a strange sense of hatred, like all she wanted to to do was pulverize it. "You've been giving us problems, honeys'," she said, her voice cold. Percy did the safe thing and said, "Yes ma'am." I stayed silent.

She tugged on the cuffs of her leather jacket. "Did you really think you two would get away with it?" She looked at Percy and I with a look that was beyond angry: it was evil. _She's a teacher_, I thought quietly and nervously, _she can't hurt us._

"We- we'll try harder, ma'am." I said quietly, inching closer to Percy. Thunder shook the building with a loud crack. "We are not fools, Percy and Jayme Jackson," Mrs. Dodds said with a grim tone in her voice. "It was only a matter of time before we found you out. Confess and you two will suffer less pain." I raised my eyebrows and looked at Percy. What was she talking about?

All I could think of was when I tied Nancy Bobofit to a chair in the dorm room. Or that time I stole the answer key off of my science teacher's desk and cheated on my test. "Well?" Mrs. Dodds demanded, her voice sharp and angry. "Ma'am, I don't-" Percy said when she cut him off by hissing, "Your time is up."

Then it got seriously weird. Her eyes glowed like half-lit charcoals while her fingers extended into crooked talons. She leather jacket melted onto her back and molded into giant, bat-like wings. Grover was right, Mrs. Dodds wasn't human. She was now a shriveled up, prune-looking hag with bat wings claws and a mouth filled with yellow fangs. And she was about to mince me and Percy.

It got even weirder.

Mr. Brunner, who'd been reading in front of the museum no more than a minute before, wheeled into the doorway of the gallery, holding his pen in his hand. "What ho, Percy! Jayme!" He shouted and tossed his pen in the air before pulling out two short mechanical pencils and tossing them to me. Mrs. Dodds lunged.

With a yelp, Percy dodged a slash of talons next to his ear and I leaped out of the way from a slice at my chest. Percy pulled the pen out of the air and once it hit his hand, it wasn't a pen. It was a full-length bronze sword - the sword Mr. Brunner used on tournament day. I caught the pencils, one in each hand, and they extended into two bronze daggers.

Mrs. Dodds spun toward Percy with a murderous look in her glowing eyes. Percy was shaking so violently he almost dropped the sword. Mrs. Dodds let out an evil snarl that sounded out with a, "Die, honey!" She flew straight at Percy. "No!" I cried out, adrenaline pumping through my veins. Terror shined in Percy's eyes and we both did what was natural. He swung his sword and I brought down the dagger in my right hand directly into Mrs. Dodds' leathery back.

The blades passed through her body with a strange hiss, like she was made of water. Percy's sword in her shoulder, my dagger in her back. What was left of Mrs. Dodds reminded me of a dust storm in the Sahara. She exploded into a yellowish-gold powder, vaporized where she stood, leaving nothing but the smell of sulfur, and a chill of fear running up and down my spine. I felt like her two glowing charcoal eyes were still watching me.

Percy and I were alone. Alone with nothing but a ballpoint pen and two small mechanical pencils.

Mr. Brunner wasn't there. Nobody but us.

Percy's hands were trembling violently when my knees gave out. I just sat on the floor, knowing I couldn't walk. What was put in my lunch? Had we imagined the whole thing? Percy and I walked back outside slowly. It had started to rain.

Grover sat by the fountain, using a museum map over his head to shield himself from the rain. Nancy. Bobofit stood near the fountain talking to her ugly friends, still drenched from her swim in the fountain. When she saw us walk out, she sneered, "I hope Mrs. Kerr whipped your butt." "Who?" Percy and I asked in unison, making me raise an eyebrow. "Our teacher, duh." She said, her voice annoying me easily.

I kept my eyebrow raised while Percy blinked. Who was Mrs. Kerr? We didn't have a teacher named Mrs. Kerr. "What are you talking about?" I asked her, my mind filled with the stress from our endeavor inside. She made a disgusted noise as she rolled her eyes and turned away.

Percy asked Grover where Mrs. Dodds was, which he replied to by saying, "Who?" He paused first and wouldn't look at Percy, so immediately knew he was messing with us. "C'mon, Grover. He's serious, we're serious." I said, my voice tight with impatience. Thunder cracked loudly overhead.

Mr. Brunner sat under his red umbrella, reading his book. It was like he never moved. We walked over to him. He looked up at us, looking distracted. "Ah, that would be my pen and pencils. Please bring your own writing utensils in the future, Mr. and Miss Jackson."

We handed him the writing utensils, not realizing we were still holding them. "Sir," I asked, hiding the strain in my voice with a sweet and innocent tone. "Where's Mrs. Dodds?" He gave me a blank stare in his ancient brown eyes. "Who?" "The other chaperone," Percy continued for me. "The pre-algebra teacher."

Mr. Brunner frowned at us and leaned forward, looking mildly concerned. "Percy, Jayme, there is no Mrs. Dodds on this trip. As far as I know there's never been a Mrs. Dodds at Yancy Academy. Are you two feeling alright?"


	2. Chapter 2

**DISCLAIMER: I do not own PJO, no matter how much I'd like to. I only own Jayme. **

Ya know, Percy and I were used to weird situations and experiences, but usually they didn't last long. This was a hallucination that went on constantly, and it was freaky. For the rest of the year, it was like people were prancing Percy and me. Everyone was absolutely positive that this perky blond lady they call Mrs. Kerr had been our teacher since Christmas. I had never seen her in my life, and the fact no one remembered Mrs. Dodds made this so much worse. If either of us, me or Percy, mentioned Mrs. Dodds people would stare at us like we had lost our marbles.

It got so bad Percy almost believed them - Mrs. Dodds had never existed.

Almost.

I wasn't convinced. I could still feel her fiery gaze, like dying charcoals, on my back and I could still see her sharp talons flying at my chest, like she was going to slice me to bits. That wasn't the only proof she had existed, Grover couldn't fool us. When Percy and I mentioned Mrs. Dodds to him, he would hesitate and then claim she never existed, but Percy and I knew he was lying.

Something was going on. Something did happen at the museum. And whatever it was, its strangeness changed everything.

I didn't think about it during the day, I was too busy, but at night the visions of Mrs. Dodds charcoal gaze, talons, and fangs would wake me up screaming.

The weird weather kept on, which didn't help Percy's strange mood any. I was starting to get used to it. One night, a thunderstorm blew the windows out of the dorm rooms, the boys and the girls. A few days later, the biggest tornado ever spotted in Hudson Valley touched down only fifty miles from Yancy Academy. One of the current events our class examined in social studies was the strange number of planes that had gone down in the Atlantic that year.

Percy was cranky and irritable much more often than he was his usual self. I was confused, and it made my ADHD act up and made my grades of low Cs to low Ds. Percy and I got in more fights with Nancy Bobofit and her friends. Percy was sent out into the hallway in almost every class.

Percy finally snapped when our English teacher, Mr. Nicoll, asked us both why we were too lazy to study for spelling tests. I explained to him, in a rather harsh manner, that there was no point in me trying to interpret his teachings. Percy called him and old sot. Neither Percy or I knew what that meant, but it sounded good. The headmaster sent our mother a letter the following week, making it official: Percy and I were not invited back to Yancy Academy next year.

_Fantastic, _I thought to myself, _I hate this place. _

I don't know about Percy, but I was homesick.

But I could guess we both wanted to be with our mom in our little apartment on the Upper East Side, even if I had to go to public school and deal with my idiotic stepfather and his stupid poker games with drunken friends.

But honestly, there would be things I'd miss at Yancy, and I knew in the back of my mind Percy would miss them too. The view of the woods out of the dorm windows, the sound of the Hudson River roaring in the distance, the sweet smell of pine trees. We'd both miss Grover, who'd been a good friend even if he was a little strange sometimes. I didn't know how Grover would survive the next year without Percy and I next year.

I knew we'd both miss Latin class too - Mr. Brunner's crazy tournament days and his faith that Percy and I could do well.

As exam week got closer, Latin was the main one I studied for. I struggled to study for Science and English, and didn't even try with the math. Mr. Brunner's expectations for Percy and I echoed in the back of my mind, not to mention his statement of this subject being life-and-death for Percy and I. I didn't know why, but even with my mind swimming with all of the gibberish these words were, but I'd started to believe him.

The evening before the Latin final, I was nauseous and dizzy from my studying struggle. Words were swirling around my mind like they were caught in a cyclone, making my head pound and throb violently. I pulled my knees to my chest and laid my forehead on my kneecaps, trying to steady my breathing to make my nauseousness fade.

Mr. Brunner's serious expression filled the back of my mind, the parts that weren't swimming with nonsense from these stupid books. _I will only accept the best from you, Percy and Jayme Jackson._

I sighed and stood up slowly, the dizziness starting to fade, and picked up the Cambridge Guide to Greek Mythology book.

Neither Percy or I had ever asked a teacher for help before. Maybe if I talked to Mr. Brunner he could help me with some of this stuff. I could, at least, apologize for the gigantic F I was going to score on this exam. It would be an insult to him to leave Yancy without him thinking I at least tried.

I walked downstairs and met Percy about halfway down; we had the same idea again. We went to the faculty offices together. Most of them were dark and empty, but Mr. Brunner's door was ajar, light from his window stretching across the hall and casting a shadowy silhouette of my body as I walked toward the door.

Percy and I were three steps from the door handle when I heard the muttering voice of Mr. Brunner ask a question. A voice that definitely belonged to Grover said "...worried about Percy and Jayme, sir."

Percy and I froze.

I don't usually eavesdrop, but when someone you consider your best friend talking about you to an adult, you try not to.

We both inched closer in unison.

"...alone this summer," Grover continued. "I mean, a Kindly One in the school!" I looked at Percy and raised a thin, black eyebrow. He knew what I was asking. _A Kindly one? _He shrugged in reply, having no more of an idea than I did. Grover was stills talking. "Now that we know for sure, and they know too-"

"We would only make matters worse by rushing them," Mr. Brunner said. "We need them both to mature more."

"But he may not have time. The summer solstice deadline-"

"Will have to be resolved without them, Grover. Let them enjoy their ignorance while they still can."

"Sir, they both saw her..."

"Their imagination," Mr. Brunner insisted. "The Mist over the students and staff will be enough to convince him of that."

This time Percy looked at me and raised an eyebrow.

"Sir, I... I can't fail in my duties again." Grover's voice was strained as he choked on welling emotions. "You know what that would mean."

"You haven't failed, Grover," Mr. Brunner said kindly. "I should have seen her for what she was. Now let's just worry about keeping Percy and Jayme alive until next fall-"

The mythology book dropped out of Percy's hand and hit the floor with a loud thud. I was in shock, it didn't even register until Mr. Brunner fell silent.

I was snapped out of the shock quickly, grabbing Percy's wrist and feeling his hammering heartbeat, which matched my own. Percy picked up his book, took my hand, and backed down the hall with me.

A shadow glided across the lighted glass of Mr. Brunner's office door, a shadow much taller than our wheelchair-bound Latin teacher. The shadow was holding something that looked strangely like a bow and arrow.

"Jayme," Percy whispered, opening the nearest door and pulling me inside with him.

A few seconds later we both heard a slow _clop-clop-clop_, like muffled woodblocks hitting the tile floor, then a sound like and animal sniffing right outside the door. I buried myself closer to Percy, and he let me, wrapping one of his arms around my waist to keep me close. We might be twins, but he's still a little older and this is one of the moments his brotherly protectiveness took over. I was glad it did because a large, dark shape paused in front of the glass, then moved on.

A bead of sweat trickled down the back of Percy's neck as my chest heaved with heavy but silent breaths, and the pounding of my heart against my ribcage.

Somewhere in the hallway, Mr. Brunner spoke. "Nothing," he murmured. "My nerves haven't been right since the winter solstice."

"Mine neither," Grover said. "But I could have sworn..."

"Go back to the dorm," Mr. Brunner told him. "You've got a long day of exams tomorrow."

"Don't remind me."

The lights went out in Mr. Brunner's office.

Percy and I waited in the dark for what seemed like forever, his hand still locked in it's tight grip on mine to make sure I was still there with him.

Finally, we each slipped out into the hall and made our way to our respective dorms.

I walked into my dorm, and Nancy Bobofit was awake, her red hair puffy and tangled from sleep. "Well, well," She sneered at me, making the freckles on her pale face run together into larger blobs. "Looks like I won't be seeing you next year. Even if you weren't getting kicked out."

My jaw tightened at her words, but I forced myself not to acknowledge her in any other way.

"You don't belong here," Nancy continued, her sneer growing. "You're stupid and it won't get any better. You'll never belong here, you or your stupid brother."

That's it. I lost it.

I lunged at her, knocking her off of her bed and slammed her into the wall, pinning her by her throat with my forearm. "Listen to me closely, Bobofit. I don't care what you say about me," I snarled quietly, though menacingly. "But never, ever, insult my brother. You don't know what we have to live with and you are the last thing we need. Being an annoying pain is something I can handle, but an annoying pain that insults my family and thinks she's better than us is something I can't."

She whimpered in fear, though I knew she didn't care about my words. I let her go, and she leaned over, coughing quietly and rubbing her throat. "Just leave us alone," I growled quietly. She glared at me, but said nothing else as I walked back to my bed.

I climbed in my bed, not even bothering to go through my usual routine.

My mind started running around what I'd heard with Percy downstairs, and I knew I wasn't going to get any sleep tonight.

Only one thing from that conversation was clear: Grover and Mr. Brunner we talking about Percy and I behind our backs. They thought we were in some kind of danger.

The next afternoon, as Percy and I were leaving the three-hour long Latin exam, my head throbbing from trying to read and remember the Greek and Roman names I needed to, Mr. Brunner called us both back inside.

I had a moment of panic, wondering if he'd found out about mine and Percy's eavesdropping last night, but that wasn't the apparent problem.

"Percy, Jayme," he said. "Don't be discouraged about leaving Yancy. It's... it's for the best."

His tone was kind, but the words were embarrassing. I swallowed hard, knowing, even though he was speaking quietly, the other kids could hear. Nancy Bobofit smirked at me and made sarcastic kissing noises at Percy with her lips.

I glared at her sharply.

"Okay, sir." Percy mumbled.

"I mean..." Mr. Brunner rolled his chair back and forth, like he didn't know what to say next. "This isn't the right place for you two. It was only a matter of time."

My eyes stung with tears, and I blinked quickly so they would fade.

Here was our favorite teacher, in front of the class, telling Percy and I we couldn't handle this. After saying, all year, that he believed in us, now he was telling us we were destined to get kicked out.

"Right," Percy said, trembling. He pulled me closer to him to comfort both of us.

"No, no," Mr. Brunner said quickly. "Oh confound it all. What I'm trying to say... you two aren't normal, Percy. That's nothing to be-"

"Thanks," Percy blurted. "Thanks a lot, sir, for reminding me. Reminding us."

Percy turned and walked out. "Percy-" Mr. Brunner called, but he was gone. Mr. Brunner turned toward me, almost hopefully. "Mr. Brunner, we know we're not normal," I started after swallowing hard. "But we didn't need the only adult at this school that we thought actually cared about us telling us that we don't belong here." "Jayme-" Mr. Brunner said almost sympathetically, but I had turned my back to him and followed my brother out the door.

On the last day of term, I crammed my clothes into my suitcase.

The girls around me were laughing, joking, and talking about their vacation plans. They were all going on cruises, going skiing in some foreign country, or taking trips around the world on their private jets. They were all juvenile delinquents, like Percy and I, but they were rich juvenile delinquents. At least one of their parents were executives, ambassadors, or celebrities. Percy and I were nobodies, from a family of nobodies.

Two of the girls, both of which weren't associated with Nancy Bobofit, asked me what Percy and I were doing this summer. I told them; we were going back to the city.

What I didn't explain was the fact that Percy and I would have to get a summer job walking dogs or selling magazine subscriptions, while we worried about where we'd go to school in the fall during our free time.

"Oh," one of the girls, with short and straight reddish blond hair and bright blue eyes, said. "Well, I hope you have fun." The other girl, with long brunette hair and hazel eyes, nodded and smiled at me. At least they were nice enough to treat me like I wasn't a freak.

They turned back to a conversation with each other and I turned back to my things.

The only person here I didn't want to say good-bye to was Grover, and I know Percy didn't want to either, but it looked like Percy and I didn't have to. Grover had booked a ticket to Manhattan on the same Greyhound bus that we had, so there we were, the three stooges together again, heading into the city.

During the entire bus ride, Grover kept glancing nervously down the aisle, watching the other passengers. It occurred to Percy and I that he was always nervous and fidgety when we left Yancy. It was like he always expected something bad to happen. Percy told me he thought Grover was always worried about getting teased, but there was no one to tease him on the Greyhound.

I looked at Percy, he couldn't stand it anymore.

"Looking for Kindly Ones?" Percy asked.

Grover nearly hit the roof. "Wha- what do you mean?" Grover stuttered.

Percy and I confessed about eavesdropping on him and Mr. Brunner the night before the exam.

Grover's eye twitched. "How much did you hear?"

"Oh... not much." Percy said, looking at me before I blurted. "What's the summer solstice deadline?"

He winced. "Look guys... I was just worried for you two, see? I mean, hallucinating about demon math teachers..."

"Grover-" Percy and I said at the same time, but he continued to ramble.

"And I was telling Mr. Brunner that maybe you both were overstressed or something because there was no such person as Mrs. Dodds, and..."

"Grover," Percy said. "You're a really, really bad liar."

Grover's ears turned pink.

From his shirt pocket, he fished out a grubby business card. "Just take this, okay? In case either of you, or both, need me this summer."

Percy held the card as I peeked over and tried to read it. The card was printed in strange fancy script, which made my head pound as I tried to read it, but Percy and I finally made something out that looked like:

**_Grover Underwood_**

_Keeper_

_Half-Blood Hill _

_Long Island, New York_

_(800) 009-0009_

Percy and I both raised an eyebrow and looked at each other before we both looked back at Grover. "What's Half-?" Percy started to ask before Grover cut him off.

"Don't say it aloud!" Grover yelped. "That's my, um... summer address."

My heart dropped into my stomach, and I could tell Percy's did too. Grover had a summer home. Neither of the Jackson twins had ever considered that his family would be as rich as the others at Yancy.

"Okay," Percy said gloomily. "So, like, if we want to come visit your mansion."

Grover nodded. "Or... Or if you need me."

"Why would we need you?" I blurted, harsher than I meant to.

Grover blushed, turning red all the way down to his Adam's apple. "Look, Jayme, the truth is, I- I kind of have to protect you two."

Percy and I stared at him.

All year long, Percy and I had gotten into fights to keep bullies away from him. Percy told me he'd actually lost sleep worrying that he'd get beaten up next year without either of us. And here he was acting like he was the one who defended us.

"Grover," I said cautiously. "What exactly are you protecting us from?"

Before he could answer, there was a huge grinding noise under our feet. Blackish smoke spilled from the dashboard and the bus filled with the rotten egg-like smell of sulfur, making me bury my face into my t-shirt to try and block the smell, my loose black braid waving around my head as I moved. The driver cursed and limped the Greyhound bus over to the side of the highway.

After a few minutes of working in the engine compartment, the driver announced that we'd all have to get off. Grover, Percy and I filed out with everybody else.

We were on a stretch of a country road - no place you'd notice if you didn't break down there. On our side of the highway was nothing but maple trees and litter from passing cars. On the other side, across four lanes of asphalt and concrete shimmering with afternoon heat, was an old-fashioned fruit stand.

The fruit looked delicious: massive boxes of blood red cherries and apples, walnuts and apricots, jugs of cider in a claw-foot tub of ice. There were no customers, just three old ladies sitting in rocking chairs underneath the shade of a maple tree, knitting a gigantic pair of socks.

I mean these socks were sweater-sized, but they were definitely socks. The lady on the right knitted one sock, the lady on the left knitted the other. The lady in the middle held an big basket of electric-blue yarn.

All three women looked ancient, with pale faces wrinkled like a tattered leather boot or a bad apple, silvery hair tied back in white bandannas, and bong arms sticking out of bleached cotton dresses.

The weirdest part was, they seemed to be staring right at me and Percy. I moved closer to Percy, grabbing hold of his arm to make sure this was actually happening and not a dream.

Percy looked over at Grover to say something about this, and both of us noticed that all the blood had drained from his face and his nose was twitching.

"Grover?" Percy said. "Hey man-"

"Tell me they aren't looking at you two. They are, aren't they?"

"Yeah. Weird, huh? You think those socks would fit me?"

"Not funny, Percy." Grover said, sounding panicky. "Not funny at all."

The old lady in the middle took out a huge pair of scissors - gold and silver, and long bladed like shears. Grover's breath caught in his throat.

"We're getting on the bus," Grover told us. "Come on."

I raised an eyebrow. "What? It's a thousand degrees in there."

"Come on!" He snapped, prying open the door and climbing inside. Percy and I stayed back.

Across the road, the old ladies were still watching us. The middle one cut the yarn, and I could've sworn we heard the _snip _across four lanes of traffic. Her two friends balled up the electric blue socks, making me raise an eyebrow. "Hey, Jayme," Percy said quietly. "Who do you think those are for? Sasquatch or Godzilla?" I snorted in laughter.

At the rear of the bus, the driver wrenched a big chunk of smoking metal out of the engine compartment. The bus's engine coughed and roared back to life.

The passengers cheered.

"Darn right!" yelled the bus driver. He slapped the bus with his hat. "Everybody back on board!"

Once we got back on the bus, my head started to hurt and I shivered. I hadn't felt this bad since I was seven and caught the flu. I looked at Percy, and could tell he felt the same way.

I glanced at Grover. He didn't look any better than me or Percy. He was shivering and his teeth were chattering.

I laid my head on Percy's shoulder and shivered again. Percy put his arm around me, and pulled me closer to him to keep me warm.

"Grover?" Percy asked.

"Yeah?" Grover replied.

"What aren't you telling us?"

Grover dabbed his forehead with his shirt sleeve. "Percy, what did you and Jayme see back at the fruit stand?"

"You mean the old ladies?" Percy asked. "What about them, man? They're not like... Mrs. Dodds, are they?" I shuddered at the memory of her glowing eyes, making Percy squeeze me closer to him.

Grover's expression was hard to read, but Percy and I both got the impression that the fruit-stand ladies were something much, much worse than Mrs. Dodds. He said, "Just tell me what you two saw."

"The middle one took out her scissors, and she cut the yarn." I said so quietly I wasn't sure Percy heard me, nevertheless Grover.

But it seemed that he did, because he closed his eyes and made a gesture with his fingers that might've been crossing himself, but it wasn't. It was different, something that seemed even older.

"You both saw her snip the cord," Grover said.

"Yeah. So?" Percy said but he and I both knew the moment he said it, it was a big deal.

"This is not happening," Grover mumbled. He started chewing at his thumb. "I don't want this to be like the last time."

"What last time?" I asked nervously, sitting up, but staying close to Percy.

"Always sixth grade. They never get past sixth."

My heart started beating faster. "Grover," I said, my now shot nerves showing in my voice. He was scaring me, and I could tell he was scaring Percy too. "What are you talking about?"

"Let me walk you two home from the bus station. Promise me."

I looked at Percy, and he looked at me. It was a strange request, but Percy and I both agreed.

"Is this like a superstition or something?" Percy asked, his voice still cautious.

No answer.

"Grover - that snipping of the yarn. Does that mean somebody is going to die?"

He looked at Percy and I mournfully, like he was scrolling through a list of flowers to decide which kind each of us would like best on our coffins.


End file.
